This month, iCommons' resident copyright expert, Tobias
Schonwetter, discusses the antinomy between copyright law and culture
in many regions of the world.

"Much of what we took for granted in our system and had grown to assume to be human nature was not nature at all, but culture."

(Alan Greenspan, former Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve of the United States of America)

Acquire a CD in China and chances are that you have bought an unauthorised copy. According to the latest surveys, approximately
90% of the CDs in China are "pirated" – and for that reason it most
certainly makes a lot of sense to ask what the underlying cause of this
phenomenon is. Is it because people in China cannot afford legally
distributed material? This may well be the case, but as an answer it’s
not good enough - it doesn’t explain why unauthorised copying in some
Asian countries is so much more widespread than in other (equally poor
or even poorer) regions of our world. Are we witnessing a peculiar form
of disrespectful behaviour in such cases? Indeed we are - but not in
the manner you may think.

I believe that we have to admit that Western cultures do tend to
display a disrespectful attitude towards Asian and other cultures. This
is not as absurd as it might sound – especially if you consider that
our current copyright system is clearly a Euro-centric concept, as well
as being a rather young one. It was only by way of colonisation that
this concept started to spread into other regions of the world. In
recent years, copyright protection has spread even further, as it was
often made obligatory for participation in world trade by means of
bilateral or multilateral trade agreements. Hence, its economic might,
rather than the common belief in the core principles which makes the
concept of copyright a universal one.

Against this backdrop, it is hardly surprising that copyright
protection is still somewhat alien and incomprehensible to many people
in some regions of the world, essentially because it openly conflicts
with many of these people's old traditions and beliefs. The notion of
individualism (as well as economic-driven considerations) played a
determinative role for the development of copyright protection in
Europe and later in the United States of America. However, neither the
notion of individualism nor economic considerations have reached the
same level of importance in certain other cultures as they have in the
Western world.

The situation in China illustrates this problem. Clearly, China has
introduced a number of intellectual property laws and regulations since
the mid-1990s. Yet unauthorised reproduction remains rampant and it is
commonly accepted that lax enforcement of intellectual property rights
is to blame. Of course, this argument is one-sided and does not
sufficiently explain why in other regions of the world with less
protection and even weaker enforcement mechanisms, unauthorised copying
is not as prevalent.

L: Disney characters hang out at a book fair in Beijing. (by Michael Williamson - The Post); C: Two women in chadors walk past the Charlie Chaplin Theater at the Bahman Cultural Center in Tehran. (By John Lancaster - The Post); R: Vendors in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, say they buy pirated CDs from China and Macao. (By Steve Raymer - The Post)

In this case, however, the point is the apparent incompatibility of
copyright protection and fundamental cultural norms, in China's case,
Confucian beliefs. The Confucian doctrine puts emphasis on the
importance of sharing intellectual products with society. In fact,
copying someone else's work is a high form of flattery and it is
considered dishonourable for a learned person to make money by way of
writing a book. Admittedly, Confucianism is not the sole reason for
widespread copyright infringement and lack of enforcement in this
regard. Rather, a multitude of reasons - which are to some extent
interdependent - must be considered, such as the stage of economic
development China has reached or the existence of a socialist economic
system. Without this, it is almost impossible to explain why in other
countries with equal or even stronger Confucian roots (namely Korea and
Japan) copyright infringement is not as widespread or why unauthorised
copying has been equally prevalent at some point in history in Western
countries. However, to ignore the antinomy between the law and culture
would be negligent. [read on...]

This month, iCommons' resident copyright expert, Tobias
Schonwetter, discusses the antinomy between copyright law and culture
in many regions of the world.

"Much of what we took for granted in our system and had grown to assume to be human nature was not nature at all, but culture."

(Alan Greenspan, former Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve of the United States of America)

Acquire a CD in China and chances are that you have bought an unauthorised copy. According to the latest surveys, approximately
90% of the CDs in China are "pirated" – and for that reason it most
certainly makes a lot of sense to ask what the underlying cause of this
phenomenon is. Is it because people in China cannot afford legally
distributed material? This may well be the case, but as an answer it’s
not good enough - it doesn’t explain why unauthorised copying in some
Asian countries is so much more widespread than in other (equally poor
or even poorer) regions of our world. Are we witnessing a peculiar form
of disrespectful behaviour in such cases? Indeed we are - but not in
the manner you may think.

I believe that we have to admit that Western cultures do tend to
display a disrespectful attitude towards Asian and other cultures. This
is not as absurd as it might sound – especially if you consider that
our current copyright system is clearly a Euro-centric concept, as well
as being a rather young one. It was only by way of colonisation that
this concept started to spread into other regions of the world. In
recent years, copyright protection has spread even further, as it was
often made obligatory for participation in world trade by means of
bilateral or multilateral trade agreements. Hence, its economic might,
rather than the common belief in the core principles which makes the
concept of copyright a universal one.

Against this backdrop, it is hardly surprising that copyright
protection is still somewhat alien and incomprehensible to many people
in some regions of the world, essentially because it openly conflicts
with many of these people's old traditions and beliefs. The notion of
individualism (as well as economic-driven considerations) played a
determinative role for the development of copyright protection in
Europe and later in the United States of America. However, neither the
notion of individualism nor economic considerations have reached the
same level of importance in certain other cultures as they have in the
Western world.

The situation in China illustrates this problem. Clearly, China has
introduced a number of intellectual property laws and regulations since
the mid-1990s. Yet unauthorised reproduction remains rampant and it is
commonly accepted that lax enforcement of intellectual property rights
is to blame. Of course, this argument is one-sided and does not
sufficiently explain why in other regions of the world with less
protection and even weaker enforcement mechanisms, unauthorised copying
is not as prevalent.

L: Disney characters hang out at a book fair in Beijing. (by Michael Williamson - The Post); C: Two women in chadors walk past the Charlie Chaplin Theater at the Bahman Cultural Center in Tehran. (By John Lancaster - The Post); R: Vendors in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, say they buy pirated CDs from China and Macao. (By Steve Raymer - The Post)

In this case, however, the point is the apparent incompatibility of
copyright protection and fundamental cultural norms, in China's case,
Confucian beliefs. The Confucian doctrine puts emphasis on the
importance of sharing intellectual products with society. In fact,
copying someone else's work is a high form of flattery and it is
considered dishonourable for a learned person to make money by way of
writing a book. Admittedly, Confucianism is not the sole reason for
widespread copyright infringement and lack of enforcement in this
regard. Rather, a multitude of reasons - which are to some extent
interdependent - must be considered, such as the stage of economic
development China has reached or the existence of a socialist economic
system. Without this, it is almost impossible to explain why in other
countries with equal or even stronger Confucian roots (namely Korea and
Japan) copyright infringement is not as widespread or why unauthorised
copying has been equally prevalent at some point in history in Western
countries. However, to ignore the antinomy between the law and culture
would be negligent. [read on...]